Vitamin Deficiencies and Vision Loss

No one wants to lose their vision, but unfortunately sometimes people do and it is completely out of their control. But what if you were to lose your vision because of a vitamin deficiency?

Vitamin deficiencies are 100 percent preventable, yet they are the leading cause of preventable blindness in developing countries. A Vitamin A deficiency in particular can cause a lot of vision problems. But vitamin A isn’t the only nutrient your eyes need to be working and healthy.

Your eyes, like your body need a multitude of nutrients and vitamins to prevent vision loss. If one is severely missing in the body, your eyes will bear the repercussions. Luckily, there are some really simple ways to get the vitamins and nutrients your eyes need.

Vitamin A Deficiency

A vitamin A deficiency is the hardest hit your eyes could possibly take. Vitamin A is absolutely essential to your vision health. It is THE eye vitamin. Without it, your eyes would be a total wreck. So when someone has a vitamin A deficiency, it’s a safe bet to make that their vision will suffer immensely.

A vitamin A deficiency can lead to a vision condition called, Keratomalacia. Symptoms of this condition include: night blindness, dry eyes (often extreme cases), blurred or clouded vision, and softening of the cornea. As the condition progresses, it can lead to gray deposits being formed on the whites (sclera) or the eye.

Without treatment, Keratomalacia can lead to blindness caused by ruptures, corneal infections, or degenerative tissues.

Though rare in developed countries, vitamin A deficiencies do happen. It is relatively easy to attain our required amount of vitamin A through our regular diets, but one woman who had undergone a weight loss surgery that prevented her body from absorbing vitamin A and several other nutrients experienced vision problems due to a deficiency.

When this does happen, a simple multi-vitamin will not be enough to counter the lack of vitamin A.

A vitamin A deficiency can also be a side effect of another disease such as; celiac disease, liver disease, ulcerative colitis, and cystic fibrosis. No matter the cause of the deficiency, the result is the same. Your eyesight can’t survive.

Prevention

Preventing a vitamin A deficiency is easy to do, not to mention you get to eat a whole lot of delicious foods too! In developing countries, where a wide range of food is not available, a vitamin A deficiency is common among people of all ages, including infants. The World Trade Organization has been working to bring the proper foods to developing countries to reduce the amount of vitamin A deficiencies.

Here, in the US, we have no excuse when grocery stores are everywhere. The only thing that may prevent us from eating a healthy and a rich in vitamin A diet is price. We promise you don’t need to spend a lot to gain a lot. Besides, most vitamin A rich foods are food you probably would have purchased anyway!

Here are our top vitamin A containing foods:

Sweet potatoes

Dark leafy greens

Carrots

Dried fruit (especially apricots)

Butternut squash

Fish (tuna, mackerel, oysters)

Mango and papaya

These are all foods that are versatile and easily incorporated into a home cooked meal. The daily recommended amount of vitamin A is 5000 IU. When 21909 IU of vitamin A can be found in one medium sweet potato, that’s all you need for the day!

Don’t think that you need an excessive amount of food to get your vitamin A. We’ve compiled a long list to give you options. If sweet potatoes aren’t your thing, a healthy amount of spinach or carrots will do the job just as well.

If you want to ensure you’re getting the appropriate amount of vitamin A, along with many other essential vitamin and nutrients for eyes, you can try our special Ocu-Plus Formula. It includes everything you need in one easy supplement.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency

A vitamin A deficiency will directly impact your eyes, but several other vitamins may indirectly impact them. This is the case for a vitamin B12 deficiency. A lack of vitamin B12 will likely lead to anemia which in turn can cause vision loss among several other conditions.

Some symptoms of a B12 deficiency include; fatigue, shortness of breath, constipation, and loss of feeling or a tingling sensation in the extremities. If you exhibit any of these symptoms, your doctor will likely send you for a blood test.

Vitamin B12 is a difficult vitamin to get into your diet. Many vegans have a B12 deficiency.

A few ways to treat the deficiency is to introduce vitamin B12 fortified grains into your diet (which is especially helpful to vegans), a B12 multivitamin or supplement, or in extreme cases, a vitamin B12 regular injection may be needed.

Vitamin D Deficiency

Recently, scientists have discovered a correlation between the sunshine vitamin and age related macular degeneration. A vitamin D deficiency in older people with already declining vision has proven to worsen their conditions.

Everyone needs their vitamin D and getting it is as easy as spending 10 minutes out in the sun. A vitamin D deficiency will not affect the eyes of a younger person, but once your eyesight begins to decline due to age, you’ll need all the help you can get. Exposing your eyes to a little bit of sunshine will help slowing down the process of age-related macular degeneration.

You can also get your vitamin D from vitamin D supplements. You’re probably not going to want to go outside for even a second in the dead of winter. Supplements are a good alternative. Some supplements are even made to be stirred into your favorite drink.

If you’re having trouble seeing, see your eye doctor and general doctor immediately. If you’re suffering from a deficiency, you’ll need to take a blood test to confirm. Once confirmed you can talk to your doctors about how to restore your vision.

Follow our tips, eat right, and take your supplements (if needed) and stay healthy for not only your eyes, but your overall well-being.

About Orlin Sorensen

My vision started to get blurry as a young teenager. Soon I was wearing glasses for just about everything. This was a hard blow for me because I had always dreamed of becoming a U.S. Navy fighter pilot which required perfect vision without glasses or surgery. But I wasn't ready to give up on my dreams, so I looked into every possible alternative which led me to eye exercises. Through daily vision training and eye exercises, I improved my vision from 20/85 to 20/20 and passed the Navy's visual acuity test. In fact Men's Health declared this one of the "Greatest Comebacks of All Time!" Now, I'm sharing exactly how I did it with the program that helped me so people like you can improve your vision safely and naturally, without glasses, contacts or laser surgery.

Hi,
Thanks for this article. I have recently been doing eye sight exercises and making sure I am getting enough vitamins and minerals in my diet. I noticed that my eyesight is much better on certain days that I eat healthier food options and not so good on other days. I have astigmatism since age 16 and it has been more of a struggle in the last 3 years (I am 33 now) but I really find diet plays a direct role in how good I see.

Antioxidants will cure any eye fuzziness along with proper supplementing of the 92 vitamins 20 amino acids, however many minerals, and such needed for everyday health, I like Lutein, and Lycopene the best.

While vitamins are great for ocular health they do not change or correct your refractive error. I recommend vitamins to everyone. Note the title: improve vision health….. not improve your vision. Taking vitamins from a very early age though can slow disease processes especially Macular Degeneration.

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